Another turkey recall was announced today by Cargill, the company responsible for the recalled turkey earlier this year that caused death and illnesses in numerous states. We here at the recall lawyers blog highlighted this recall because it demonstrated the importance of communication and regulation over food safety. Many people say that regulation isn't necessary because companies have an incentive to produce quality food because the "market" would hurt them if they didn't.
Well, that's all well and good, unless turkey is sickening people and killing people for literally months and they won't say whose turkey it is. That not only hurts consumers, it hurts responsible businesses that don't have contaminated products consumers don't buy any turkey, not just the uncontaminated turkey.
Cargill originally traced the tainted turkey to one plant in Arkansas and resumed production a month ago. However, in a not-all-that-surprising turn of events, the sample that was tested after production resumed was positive for salmonella. It's easy to see the cozy relationship between the local regulators and inspectors and the plant, especially when the job market is so tough and the plant being offline likely hurt the workers and families of workers and the community where the plant was located.
Let's hope that Cargill spends the time and money necessary to produce safe, salmonella-free turkey. And that inspectors and regulators do their part, since the "market will prevent Cargill" fiction has been exposed again by Cargill not fixing the problem even after getting publicly shamed.
